


A Symphony Playing Your Catastrophe

by Grey_Wind, JM_Pear



Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Medieval, Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-10
Updated: 2015-11-09
Packaged: 2018-04-30 22:25:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5181884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grey_Wind/pseuds/Grey_Wind, https://archiveofourown.org/users/JM_Pear/pseuds/JM_Pear
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cinder Fall is a travelling Mage. When she finds herself in a small town out in the middle of nowhere, she isn't expecting anything exciting. But of course, one does not tempt fate while travelling. Pretty quickly, things start going south, and Cinder meets three new people, a dashing rogue, a pale swordsman and an energetic redhead. Then it all falls apart. Literally.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It was a fairly average day for Cinder. As a lone wanderer, she had been traveling a main dirt road for the past three days and her feet were killing her, but that was on par for normality. However, the stables directly outside the entrance seemed to personally insult her current horse-less predicament. _I really need to get myself a horse,_ she thought to herself as she sat on her bar stool and ordered a whisky. _Or at least some form of transport which does not require me to walk incessantly._ She sat at the middle of a bar table, in the perfect point to watch the patron’s activities. She thought it odd that a bar would be out in the middle of nowhere like this. Even if this was a main road, Cinder assumed it was probably empty most of the year. However it seemed surprisingly full, with people chatting at tables and making small talk. There was what seemed to be a very talented bard playing, as there was a small group dancing near the back end of the bar, near the door and off to the left.

One on the group stood out more than the others. She was a young, small girl who had short crimson hair, with the bangs nearly covering her large silver eyes. She was wearing a long, red hooded cape with a simple long-sleeved black blouse underneath that was tucked into her dark skirt. Red frills hung out at the end of her sleeves, which fluttered slightly with her energetic dancing. The cape was held together by a thick red belt, which had a dagger and a short sword in a black leather sheath hanging from it. She also had black knee high boots with red laces and the signature frills protruding from the top, exposing a scandalous amount of leg. However it wasn’t the interesting choice of clothing that stood out the most in this crowd. It was the lively dancing that caught Cinders eye. The young girl was jumping up and down with her hands in the air, before lowering her arms and throwing them to out to her sides, twirling around. Her cape swayed and flowed the twirl hypnotically. Eventually the rest of the dancers circled around her, watching her do all sorts of hyperactive dance moves with the liveliest and most childish smile on her face. The girl seemed to be enjoying the music a little more then she should be, if Cinder was perfectly honest with herself.

Although, the dancing enthusiast was not the only odd character in this bar. To Cinder’s right was another small girl, maybe a little taller than the dancer, but by the way she acted it was obvious to Cinder that this girl was older and more matured. She sat with perfect posture, looking very proper in her etiquette. She slowly sipped her wine and casually looked around the room, confident but cold and analysing. Cinder could tell she was summing the patrons up for any kind of threat. She wore very opulent clothing, quite out-of-place in a small town like this. She had a short white and light blue tube top that extended into a skirt, not unlike the dancing girl’s, which reached down to her knees. Over the top of the tube dress she wore a short white cardigan with long sleeves and red lining. A familiar looking snowflake logo was displayed on her back, in a shade of silvery-white which almost looked indistinguishable from the fabric at a glance. Her long pale hair was done up in a lengthy ponytail which extended from a bun. An elegant rapier hung from her side through a loop in her belt, with an elaborate hilt and wrist guard which Cinder suspected could have been a work of art if it wasn’t so deadly looking. Her eyes were a piercing blue which looked like they could kill a person with a glare from several paces. However, something seemed off about this girl. Cinder didn’t know if it was her well-honed intuition or her magical senses telling her something was wrong, but the girl seem to have more to her, as if her prim attitude was a façade. _I’m probably thinking about this too much,_ she thought as she downed the last of her drink and motioned to the barkeep for another. She looked back, and finally took in the last interesting person in the bar, a woman in the corner of the bar.

The woman to the far left of Cinder sat on a bar stool up against the back wall, concealed in a corner and cooped up with her knees to her chest. She seemed to be engrossed in a novel. Due to Cinder’s position and keen sense of perception, she had seen the woman glance up from her book every so often to quickly survey the area, as if scanning for danger. As she analysed this mysterious person, she caught herself staring at the woman’s features more than anything else. She had beautiful amber eyes which were scanning the book lazily, as if with some sort of elegance. The woman had long, waving black hair not unlike Cinder’s own, and a bow rested upon her head. She wore a white button-up top that covered her ( _surprisingly ample,_ Cinder realised) chest and up to her neck. She wore a small blazer that started just underneath her bosom and buttoned down to the top of her navel, then angled outwards leaving most of her stomach exposed. The sides splayed out to the side of her hips before joining up at the back coattails. A barely visible sword sheath poked up from behind the woman’s curled body, with a long grip wrapped in what seemed to be fine cord serving as grip. It was discreet, and not too showy, and Cinder thought little more of it as she was too preoccupied with observing the woman herself. Cinder then proceeded to explore further down the woman’s body with her eyes, revealing tight black pants that stretched around her long and lithe-looking legs. She then wore some short black boots which rested on the edge of the stool, allowing her to sit with her knees to her chest. Cinder then also found herself interested in this curious novel, because she swore she saw the woman blush at one of the pages. Cinder couldn’t quite see what the title was as it was too far away. All she could make out were the words “ninjas” and “love”.

“How can ninjas and love fit into a title for a book?” Cinder thought aloud, muttering under her breath. She sighed, and took another drink from the new glass in front of her. She let the feeling of the alcohol wash over her, dismissing the paradox of the book’s title, and went back to looking at the gorgeous figure of the woman in the corner. Her eyes rose from the surprisingly odd reading material up to the woman’s face, only to find the woman looking right back at her, eyes wide. She instantly saw what Cinder was doing, and slowly a seductive leer spread across her perfectly proportioned face. She brought her hand up to her mouth and started biting her finger, a habit which Cinder felt should be outlawed for the amount of seductiveness that motion conveyed. _Damn._ Cinder knew she was busted, as she hadn’t even tried to conceal her obvious interest in this person. She needed to be more careful when she was perving at people. However, Cinder was not one to be bested so easily. If there were few things Cinder knew (which was ridiculous, she knew many things), it was her own strengths. This woman would get the full show. Cinder continued to stare as she slowly slid back on her stool, revealing more of her rounded backside as it slid off the wooden surface of the stool. She caught the woman in the corner following her move with her eyes, and gulp slightly when she noticed Cinder’s victorious smirk. _Got you._

Though before Cinder could claim her conquest and speak to her helpless victim, a thundering crack echoed through the bar. It shook the entire inn as Cinder felt her ears pop. It was accompanied by a blinding flash of white, hot light, stunning the patrons of the bar and leaving a haze over the atmosphere inside the tavern. The music stopped in a cacophonous silence, and without a word the dancing girl rushed over to the door with amazing speed to check outside. As soon as she opened the door a bolt of purple lightning struck in the middle of the room, and Cinder’s world went black.

*

Weiss Schnee was having a very bad day. “ _A bustling hub of trade and commerce, filled with business opportunities which a young adventuress-for-hire like yourself would find perfect for her starting needs,_ ” is what Weiss remembered narrating to herself when she originally found this place on the map. That was what this small, godsforsaken town was supposed to be. Idyllic. What she was left to deal with, however, was a run-down and empty old town with a slight monster problem and absolutely not enough money to pay for her services. The mayor couldn’t even manage to scrounge up the (perfectly reasonable) reward sum of 50 gold pieces, and when Weiss threatened to see how far the town would make it on their own they were only too quick to offer her anything else that she needed to get the job done. They had even given her a young girl to help with whatever she needed, who they claimed was the best fighter in the village. Weiss nearly grimaced when she remembered the redhead’s futile attempt to ram a sword into the back of a direwolf. That had ended badly.

It wasn’t that she was a bad fighter, being quick and agile as she was. It was just that she was more enthusiastic than precise. Take how she was dancing now. Like some raving madwoman with no sense of style or grace. Weiss shuddered, every well-crafted instinct in her body telling her precisely what was wrong with how she moved. The girl had no control over her hyperactivity, and was bobbing to some kind of beat which was clearly not the one emanating from the bard’s lute. Her face was red with either excitement or exhaustion, and her smile could brighten an endless void with how wide and shining it was. Sighing, Weiss looked back to her wine. Or poor imitation of wine which tasted like badly-pressed grape juice. _Is nothing proper in this town?_ Weiss thought sadly as she sipped her drink.

Well, at the very least she could leave this town tomorrow morning, as soon as day broke. Weiss might be an adventuress, but even then it was suicide to travel through the forest at night. Never mind the monsters, as they were as present in the day as in the night, and even then they were sparse and not as much of a threat as they were an annoyance. The real things to fear were the bandits and thieves who stole and killed indiscriminately, people whose enchanted cloaks and spells of concealment were markedly more effective in the pitch-dark of night. Weiss could almost imagine the horrid crooks, with their gleaming knives and glinting swords, taking her possessions then cruelly reaching out to her, ready to grab her hair and run their blades across her throat…

Weiss caught herself reaching to her own neck, and forcefully put her hand back to by her side. She couldn’t think about that right now. She needed to drown out her frankly embarrassing monster-slaying experiences with this horrible wine (provided on-the-house thanks to her accomplishments and a few frigid glares), and then wait till morning. Well, she might be able to take in a few more of the sights, as her “assistant” was having a very fun time, and it was surprisingly amusing to watch as she almost flew across the small space in the bar that had been converted to an ad-hoc dance floor. Her movements were somewhat… entrancing. As if she was enchanted to be as attention-grasping as possible. Weiss was very familiar with enchantments and spells, knowing several herself and being friends with some powerful warlocks and magi in high places, but this wasn’t like anything she’d ever seen before. Her eyes were glued to this small, twirling figure, who danced with such energy. _What did she say her name was again?_ Weiss thought while watching the girl twirl like a dervish. _Some kind of gemstone. Opal? Topaz?_ Weiss struggled to remember through the haze of alcohol and divided attention. _Ruby?_ Yes, that was it. _Ruby Rose._

Weiss snapped out of her trance with visible effort. She needed to be more aware of her surroundings. Looking around the room, she attempted a quick evaluation of the other interesting characters in this horrid place. There was a pause as she scanned the room, slightly inebriated. Nothing. Weiss found nothing in front of her. Absolutely nothing. Everyone was so incredibly boring that it came close to making her wine taste good. _I’m not that bored,_ Weiss reassured herself. No matter how void of stimulation her brain was, nothing could make this wine taste decent, let alone good. As she swung around on her barstool to once again face the all too familiar lonely wall behind her, she caught a glimpse out of the corner of her eye at an interesting figure to her left. _Hmm, actually she looks slightly interesting,_ she thought, her brain-dead mind instantly taking this newfound figure to be a diversion for her boredom, and Weiss took her time to closely analyse the woman.

She was sitting a few barstools away, looking around at the occupants just as Weiss was. However, following what the woman was looking at, she found that the woman was caught with a confused expression looking at Ruby. _Oh gods above. Why Ruby, why?_ Almost slamming her head on the bench in embarrassment at her new partner, Weiss groaned inwardly with shame. _She’s making a fool of herself._ Recovering her composure, Weiss rose her head, looking back at the woman. She was immediately drawn to the woman’s eyes. She had blazing red eyes. They burned like the sun, and it felt as if one look could melt you in a scorching pain unlike any other. And to go with these deadly eyes was a smirk. A smirk which constantly teased and tormented anyone foolish enough to gaze into it. Weiss had ignorantly fallen for this trap, and what was making it worse was that the aura of superiority she was giving off only reminded Weiss of her father. They had the same way of emanating power from their every pore, radiating sheer and simple dominance over whatever they saw. Weiss grit her teeth, clenching the neck of her glass harder at only the memory of that disgusting man.

It was only then, at one small moment, that as the woman watched Ruby she started to giggle at the girl’s dancing. She instantly grew a peaceful smile and her eyes turned from a burning red to a warm, rose-tinted glow. The woman’s expression as she giggled was now one that melted you with warmth, like being tucked into bed by your mother. “Not that I would know anything about having a mother,” Weiss growled under her breath, remembering her childhood once again and destroying the tranquil moment.

Taking another swig of her wine to wash down the memories, she scrunched her face as she was reminded how her wine tasted. _At least the alcohol makes me feel better._ As she gazed back up to continue observing the woman’s persona, she was caught on the way up to the woman’s face. She was getting off her stool. No, she was slowly showing more of her behind as it slid off the stool. Weiss quickly looked up to the woman’s face, beginning to feel a blush forming. Luckily, the woman was not looking at Weiss, but to the girl on the opposite end of the bar table who was indulging herself a long look at the woman’s rounded behind. Furiously blushing now, and starting to wish she had just continued watching her flailing mess of a partner dance, Weiss turned away and quickly finished her drink. _This is ridiculous, Weiss. You are a fully-grown woman, and you are not one to be bashful when you see people flirting,_ she thought. _Get a hold of yourself._

At that precise point, a blinding flash filled the small bar-room and an ear-splitting crack threatened to deafen the patrons.  Weiss had just enough time to register Ruby dashing over to the door to check what was going on, when another flash sparked bright spots behind Weiss’s eyes and then nothing.


	2. Chapter 2: A Monster Made for Men.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The tavern has fallen apart thanks to the massive damage sustained from the mysterious lightning. While our heroes pick themselves back up and brush off the dust, a new horror emerges...

Blake lazily opened her eyes, trying to block out the ringing in her ears. Sometimes having feline ears and sensitive hearing was more trouble than it was worth. Returning to autonomy and the world of the living, Blake managed to piece together enough coherent thought to realise she was face up on a hard floor, and that she had just fallen from a large height. Directly above her was a bizarre amount of debris, and what appeared to be a faraway wooden roof framed by tall walls of stone. Light filtered down into the cavernous space with a funny orange pallor, thanks in part to some still-burning parts of the bar Blake remembered being in last time she was conscious. But the light, however dim, was more than enough to see by even for people without enhanced Faunus senses.

Turning her head to one side, Blake saw two small girls passed out on the stone floor, a fair distance away from Blake and nearer to the wall. Both were dressed in tall boots and skirts, one in black and one in white. The girl in black had a large red hood covering most of her form, while the girl in white had an unpleasant amount of dust and grime covering her very expensive-looking jacket. Blake remembered them as other patrons of the bar, and had a quick mental image of the one in black twirling around with amazing speed. Still not working quite properly, she rolled her head in the other direction. She caught sight of the beautiful woman she had been playing with, sprawled out a few feet from where Blake was. She was dressed in a red long-sleeved one-piece dress that ended just after her knees with an interesting pattern on the sleeves. It had a large black jewel pattern on her left side, with long, thick black and dark green feathers protruding from it. But this was no time to be admiring her dazzling burnished orange flaming eyes, or long and graceful wavy black hair which cascaded down to her shoulders, or her perfectly formed and rounded ass... _No Blake, stop,_ she reminded herself. _Not now with the staring, at least._ Her limbs were sluggish to move, and Blake struggled to stand. _Ouch,_ she thought. _Everything hurts._

“What the hell just happened?” she asked to no-one in particular, choking on the still-settling dust. Her eyes widened at the sight in front of her. Broken, burnt and shattered pieces of wood were scattered around and a large black scorch mark framing where the strange lightning struck. The bolt must have pierced the floor of the bar and struck the hard rock of the cavern below. She continued to scan her surroundings for any more details. When she saw the centre of the mark her eyes were greeted with a horrific sight. A pile of mangled flesh, raw muscle and writhing tentacles was in the middle of the carnage which was the remains of the tavern. Sitting there, doing nothing, just swaying and bobbing its flesh around, waiting. Blake wanted to throw up just looking at it. She turned away, hand over her mouth. She couldn’t take even looking at the monster. As she turned around, Blake noticed the other two girls drowsily getting up. The girl in the white skirt had already managed to retrieve consciousness, and was helping the other in the red hood get to her feet. Blake looked back around for the woman in the red dress, and saw her shaking her head awake as she absorbed her surroundings. Blake began walking over to her, struggling to make her legs work as she stumbled through the still-flaming wreckage.

*

As Cinder woke, she realised her everything hurt tremendously. Everything. It was as if she had landed on a bundle of nerves which made every part of her body hurt. She pried open her eyes, took in the fact that she was sprawled on a hard stone floor with bits of wood jabbing her everywhere, recognised that she had something wedging into her back and pressuring her spine, and realised that she was not half wrong with her earlier metaphor. She attempted to sit herself up and remember the events that just happened. She was greeted by a surprisingly deft hand being thrust in front of her face.

“Who’s there?” was the only thing she could say. She couldn’t quite see the person who had her hand in Cinder’s face, but she could almost make out a clearly feminine form crouching down beside her.

“I’m Blake. Hurry, we need to go.” The woman’s voice was gentle and concerned, but the obvious worry in her voice was still there. Cinder brushed Blake’s hand out of her face and stared at her. It was the woman from earlier. The woman from the bar. Her face betrayed her panic, and Cinder was slightly annoyed at the fact that her pretty face was being used to make an expression like that. Confused by the worry on her face and in her voice, Cinder took a glace around and found the monstrosity Blake was worried about. She would have jumped if she hadn’t been sitting down. It was disgusting, and Cinder moved a hand to cover her mouth to remind herself not to retch. Realising that Blake still held her arm out to help her up, Cinder hastily took her outstretched hand and was pulled to her feet. Sharing a quick glance, the pair started to run in the opposite direction of that thing.

“NO, DON’T!”

“DON’T RUN!” Simultaneous screams came from the other end of the monster. Cinder quickly glanced over her shoulder only to see an incoming tentacle extending towards them. Reacting as fast as she could, she quickly shoved Blake out of harm’s way and threw herself to the side to avoid the attack herself. The tentacle whipped overhead, barely missing both women. Blake, regaining her balance yet still a bit stunned, looked at the retreating tentacle, then to Cinder.

“Thanks…” she began, trailing off and looking at her saviour.

“Cinder,” she finished, offering Blake her own hand this time.

“Thanks Cinder,” Blake said, graciously accepting the hand. The pair turned to look at the monster, now ready to ensure it didn’t attempt attacking them again. There were two other girls on the opposite side of the large cavern under the bar, one in black and one in white. The same thing must have happened to the other two Cinder and Blake decided as they were already poised in defensive positions, weapons drawn. Cinder admired their initiative, and watched as Blake drew a long, matte blade from a sheath behind her back. Cinder carefully focused her mana. _Time to show this freak what pain feels like,_ she thought. Smiling with a grin which curled into a smirk, she began to construct a series of spells mentally to test the monster for weaknesses. She looked back up at the monster, eyes beginning to burn and glow thanks to the excess magical energy coursing through her, and let out a short, manic chuckle. _This will be fun_.

*

“OK Weissy, what now?” The girl who had introduced herself as Ruby asked, far too calmly for Weiss’ liking given the situation they were in.

“How the hell am I supposed to know?” Weiss snapped. “And don’t call me Weissy. It’s childish,” Weiss aggressively snapped       . Trust her to get stuck with this dolt when the proverbial excrement started flying.

“Aww, but it’s cute!” Ruby beamed smiling up at the other girl. Weiss had just gotten to know the girl in the red hood, and already she was regretting it. But before Weiss could respond (or rather, retaliate) to that comment, they were attacked by another jab from a long, smooth tentacle. Weiss jumped backwards, dodging the attack with well-honed finesse. Ruby seized the opportunity of the retreating tentacle, and charged at it. The redhead had her sword hilt to her hip whilst pointing the blade forward, and she was ready to drive it into the monster as hard as she could. She was almost close enough to jab at the beast, only to be attacked by a second tentacle curving in from the left. Ruby, using her size to her advantage, ducked under the impending blow and continuing her charge at the monster. Suddenly it changed its attack pattern from jabs to long, whipping swings, as the previously dodged tentacle flung back around, slamming Ruby in the back. The hit sent her flying back at Weiss, her small frame propelling her into the pale swordsman with a grunt. Weiss managed to keep her footing, and half-helped half-shoved Ruby back onto her feet.

“Are you okay?” asked Weiss, with the slightest hint of worry in her voice. It wasn’t that she really worried, but the small girl had just been thrown across a few meters by a massive beast’s tentacle.

“So you do care?” Ruby teased, standing and reassuming a defensive position. Weiss brushed off the redhead’s question, bringing her rapier up to guard against further attack. She summed up the beast’s tactics in her head, thinking out the best way to begin assaulting this monster.

“I say we find a way around the… thing to the other two so we can attack as a group,” was Weiss’ only response as she tried to see a weakness in the monster. However, an annoyed look remained on her face as she mulled over the small girl’s question. _I should really stop thinking of her as small,_ mused the swordsman. Weiss’ thoughts were interrupted abruptly as a tentacle flung towards them. Weiss lunged out, her blade set to parry the tentacle as it slammed into her blade and glanced off it. _Now how to get there…_

*

“Acid Splash”

“Fire Bolt”

“Poison Spray”

“Burning Hands”

“Magik Missile”

“Please just shut up!” Shouted Blake, making sure to enunciate every syllable for emphasis. Turning her head back to the task at hand, Blake was greeted by an incoming blow from the hideous… _whatever_ that thing was. Cinder clearly didn’t hear the Faunus, as she continued rapidly gesturing to the monster whilst calling out her spells.

“Fire Bolt,” rang out, as Cinder shoved her hands forward, this time casting more forcefully than the other spells.

The ringing of the spell in Blake’s ears was deafening as time slowed down, and her eyes widened at the sight of a torrent of fire loosely packed into an orb flew towards the beast, with a trail of flames whooshing behind. Only then, as she followed the fire ball with her eyes, did she notice just how close the tentacle had come to taking her head for its own. Luckily, or maybe thanks to the Sorcerers’ skill, the ball of fire hit the side of the appendage and exploded in a small burst of flames as it hit, causing the tentacle to pause for a split second. Then the secondary explosion to the spell kicked in as still dispersing flames from the first explosion quickly sucked back into the place where they hit. The secondary explosion came, much larger than the first. It burst with such force that it knocked the tentacle away, and as it went into a spasm it retreated back into the monster. Turning back to the origin of the flame, Blake’s eyes met the sight of Cinder, the fire dispersing from her hands, the pattern on her dress glowing and her eyes like the sun. The only thought Blake could muster in response to the sight in front of her was _fuck, that’s hot_. Only then was time was restored by Cinder and her sly remarks.

“Has one of my annoying spells just saved your life? Or was that just a trick of the wind?” She stated, sarcasm dripping from her tone, only to receive an interesting mix of mumbled swear words from Blake. Blake’s wit quickly caught up to her mouth as she managed to think of a reasonably smart response.

“Well, have you found any weaknesses with those spells of yours?” Blake asked retreating back to Cinders side. Deadpan, Cinder looked back at the monster and Blake followed her gaze to see where the tentacle had retreated to. They found it close to the monster’s side, with a large hole and smoke coming from it.

Still completely expressionless, Cinder turned back to Blake and simply said “I don’t think it likes fire.” However, immediately after she said this an almost childlike grin sprung onto the Sorcerers’ face.

_Oh gods, what is she thinking?_ Blake thought, looking at an altogether-too-enthusiastic Cinder.

“Okay, so do you have any plans?” asked Blake, almost scared of the answer.

“Hmm, well it looks like the other two are trying to fight their way over to us.” Cinder mused, her grin slipping as she tried to focus on the two girls attempting to fend off the monster on the other side of the cavern.

“Well, if I meet up with them and distract it, can you sneak up behind it and use your fire?” Suggested Blake.

“Hey, you’re the sneaky one. If you think you can do it, go ahead. I’m a mage, but I think I can do that.”

With that the two split up, running in different directions. Blake dashed off at a marvellous speed, ducking and weaving around the incoming blows while making her way to the others. Meanwhile, Cinder attempted to use her flame magic to create cover fire for Blake, who was distracting the monster while Cinder herself snuck around to the opposite side of the monster. Blake ran, frantically parrying the incoming attacks as Ruby and Weiss made their way towards Blake. The closer they got together, the less attention the monster was paying to Cinder. _It’s working,_ Blake mentally commented on her plan.

When they finally met Blake was greeted with a stern “Where’s the other one?” from Weiss.

“She’s sneaking around the back for a sneak attack.” Blake responded

“Well, that seems like a good enough plan,” the white-clad girl said. Through her dull tone, Blake couldn’t tell if that was the richest, most critical complement she had ever heard or if this girl was being incredibly sarcastic. She decided to take it as a complement.

“Er, so what do we do now?” the little red girl interrupted. “We distract it long enough for-”

“Cinder” Blake said, getting used to these quick introductions

“Yes, long enough for Cinder to sneak up behind it?” The red girl finished. Blake nodded. “Okay! I can do that!” The red girl beamed, raising her hand as if she was in a class room. Blake, quickly considering employing silence as a tool to converse with this girl more often, nodded again. With that, the trio turned to the monster and assumed defensive positions, looking over it to see if Cinder was ready. Blake noticed the mage’s earlier claim was right, she really _was_ terrible at sneaking. Somehow, however, that awkward shuffle she was employing was working, and she signalled when she was almost five meters away from the creature. When they were all in position, Blake and the two red and white fighters started their attack.

They all charged at once, the white girl quickly covering and correcting the red girl’s clumsy sword play as the trio fought. The redhead wasn’t that bad as far as a normal person went, yet she was rather over-the-top with her swordplay, and Blake’s keen observation of her technique showed she anticipated that her blade swung in a farther arc than it did. This left her less reactive when a tentacle attacked her, as she was forced to rejudge her reach mid-attack to defend and parry the tentacle properly.

Blake, meanwhile, used her speed to give the illusion of attacking while she was actually helping the others parry and distract the monster. Her strategy was to minimise the chances of getting hit while drawing the monster’s attention, and allow Cinder to attack when she was ready. And it was working. All the monster’s focus was on them as Cinder made her way ever-closer. All they could do now was wait ‘till Cinder delivered the final blow. Cinder, however, continued her path towards it even after she was in casting range. _What is she doing?_ Blake asked herself. _She could just blast the thing from there!_ With time Cinder was within touching distance of the monster. She stood tall behind it, eyes glowing violently, her head showing over the monster’s grotesque form. Almost devastatingly slowly, as if time was operating in slow-motion, she raised and extended her arm to place it on the monster. The thing froze to the touch. Cinder, completely oblivious of the others’ eyes watching her with confusion and disbelief, cast her spell. The patterns in her dress again began to glow, fire running down her arm, eyes glowing as she declared her spell:

“Incinerate.”

Cinder’s voice made the hairs on the back of Blake’s neck stand on end. Every syllable echoed with forceful power. As she cast her spell, the slow flames which licked up her arm flared violently, rushing down her arm in a blaze of heat and light and streaming into the monster. The monster instantly caught alight, sending a shockwave of heat and rushing air out to slam into the rest of the party, knocking them to the ground. Cinder, however, stood there seemingly unaffected by the small explosion, her hair whipping around her and swathes of her dress fluttering. And her eyes, they burned like furious infernos trapped inside her head and blazing with malevolence.

The group was awestruck, looking between the monster and the mage. What remained of the creature was a flaming mess, melting flesh slowly oozing from the charred husk of its body as inhuman screeches and wails emanated from the being’s dying form. The soon-to-be-corpse was waving its appendages about, acting out the dying throes of a darkly poisonous threat. The team then shifted their gaze to the cause of this utter annihilation. The cause smiled at her achievement. Not Cinder. This was not the Cinder Blake shared her short encounter with. This woman was powerful, destructive and sadistic. Someone who would take immense pleasure in doing this much damage. This was just chaotic evil.

The other three girls watched in horror until the ordeal finally ended. The attacking monster was now only a pile of burnt flesh. Cinder brushed the dust off her hands and clothes, standing proudly and satisfied with her achievement.

“That was… AWESOME!” yelled the red girl, throwing her hands up in the air to shatter the dense silence.

“Ruby that was not awesome!” The pale swordsman stared at her partner.

“Are you crazy?!” Cinder seemed not to hear her, and stepped around the dead monster to face the group.

“Ruby. That’s a nice name,” Cinder said, offering out her hand to the redhead.

“Yours too, Cinder,” Ruby said as she took the proffered hand with something akin to awestruck reverence.

“Oh so you know my name. Thank you, Blake,” Cinder said introducing Blake to the pair while helping the rouge get to her feet. They all then looked to the white girl, who had stood up, pouting at the expectation that she gave her name.

When they didn’t look away, Ruby yet again broke the silence. “Aww, come on Weiss, don’t be like that,” the redhead said as she beamed at her newfound friend.

“I don’t have to tell them my-” Weiss stopped, realising what Ruby had done. She glared at the small girl in the red hood. “Ruby!”


End file.
